by Jack Kerley

This debut police thriller turns on the well-known adage, 'Set a psychopath to catch a psychopath.' Junior homicide detective Carson Ryder solved a serial-killer case last year, thanks to the advice he received from his brother Jeremy, an imprisoned, insane serial killer himself. As a result of his work, Ryder and partner Harry Nautilus, a veteran cop, now helm the Psychopathological and Sociopathological Investigative Team, devoted to handling particularly warped crimes. Ryder is hampered by ugly office politics and aided by his brother's helpful tips as he and Nautilus work on the unit's first case, a murderer who decapitates good-looking male victims and scribbles bizarre messages on the corpses.